Aerie Report, December 24, 2009

When I came downstairs this morning at 7 AM it was just 18 degrees and the clouds were down to around 2100 feet elevation. As a result, I could look up the hill and see the tops of the pines gathering frozen fog upon their needles while down the hill, there was nothing. That changed when the clouds dropped even lower a few minutes later and everything was shrouded in fog. When they lifted a few hours later (there was no breeze or breath of air movement to assist), the trees on the far hillside were also covered with a very thin sheen of ice.

Trees with a thin coating of ice.

The haze is caused by some lingering clouds and by the "smokey" nature of water vapor entering the atmosphere as the temperatures climb in to the mid-20s. (Ice changing directly to vapor without first melting is called sublimation. It's how frost free freezers work.)

There's a hint of a "fog line" in this photo.

Notice the windmill isn't turning. No wind so no electricity. The wind may be "green" but it sure is intermittent. (That means "not all the time.")

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The folks at AccuHunch took the ice out of the forecast. Instead we'll get lots of rain, they say, as the temperatures Saturday and Sunday will positively soar into the mid-30s wherever their weather station is located. (We are usually 4 or 5 degrees colder than wherever that is.) The rain will be followed by a little bit of snow Sunday night.

Concerns about that stupid dashboard light will keep me in PA, however, ice or no ice.

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Rick and Sandy were flying into O'Hare to celebrate Christmas with her folks. I home they have a safe flight and are not canceled or anything nasty. Sandy has been working long hours and weeks for an attorney in Portland and they haven't really had much time off together.
[UPDATE: The kids got into O'Hare okay and on time on Wednesday despite numerous cancellations of other flights.]

Terry and Jess will go to my sister's annual get together this evening. Terry's been gallivanting around NJ and even NYC visiting friends and former coworkers during the holiday party season. She's the sociable one in the house.

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Well, I got the gas cans filled up and added some stabilizer to each one so the gas won't go bad before I need it. Moved a couple of wheelbarrows full of firewood into the garage, too. Except for the birds chattering around the feeders it's really, really quiet around the Aerie. It might be time to take a hint from the cats who are sound asleep after having finished their lunch.